Five picks, every combination: that’s 31 bets, from five singles all the way up to a five-fold. A £1 Lucky 31 costs £31, and the Lucky 31 calculator above shows what it returns for any mix of results.
Five horses all at 2/1. If they all win, you get £1,023 for your £31. Three winners return £63, so you’ve doubled your money. Two winners give you £15 back, and one gives you £3. That’s the shape of this bet: it’s built for the day three or more of them come in.
Inside the Lucky 31 calculator
- 5 singles
- 10 doubles
- 10 trebles
- 5 four-folds
- 1 five-fold
Enter each price as you’d see it on the slip and set the results. The calculator handles non-runners the way bookies do: that pick counts as 1.0, so every line it was in shrinks by one leg instead of dying.
Bonuses
Like the Lucky 15, a Lucky 31 often comes with extras. Double odds on a lone winner, and a percentage bonus when all five win. The size varies by bookie, so put in your own terms. With five 2/1 winners, a 20% bonus on winnings would take £1,023 up to about £1,221.
Each way
Each way makes it 62 bets, £62 at £1. Expensive, but with five runners in big handicaps it’s not unusual for three or four to place. The place part uses your place terms. 1/4 odds on a 16+ runner handicap paying four places is the classic Lucky 31 setup.
The maths
Lucky 31 return = stake × ((1 + a)(1 + b)(1 + c)(1 + d)(1 + e) − 1)
With five 3.0s: 4⁵ − 1 = 1,023. One line on a pen is fine. Thirty-one, with three non-runners and a dead heat? That’s why the calculator exists.
Fewer picks: Lucky 15 (four) or Patent (three).
A £1 Lucky 31 each way is £62. Make sure that’s money you’ve set aside for fun. BeGambleAware.org is free and confidential if it stops being fun.